Abe Vigoda, known for ‘Barney Miller’ role, dies at 94

NEW YORK — Abe Vigoda, a Jewish actor best known for playing a cranky police detective in the 1970s sitcom “Barney Miller,” has died.

Vigoda’s daughter, Carol Vigoda Fuchs, told The Associated Press that Vigoda died Tuesday morning in his sleep at Fuchs’ home in Woodland Park, New Jersey. The cause of death was old age. “This man was never sick,” Fuchs said.

His death brought to an end years of questions on whether he was still alive — sparked by a false report of his death more than three decades ago. Though Vigoda took it in stride, the question of whether he was dead or alive became something of a running joke: There were even websites devoted to answering the much-Googled question, “Is Abe Vigoda dead?” (On Tuesday, one had been updated with “Yes,” with the date of his death.)

In addition to his role as Sgt. Philip K. Fish on “Barney Miller,” Vigoda is best known for playing mobster Salvatore Tessio in “The Godfather.”

Although he was not Italian, Vigoda at times was mistaken for one. According to The Washington Post, Vigoda reported that during filming of “The Godfather,” some New York mafia members showed up on the set and “They kept looking at me, as if to say, ‘What family is he from?’”

Vigoda also starred in “Fish,” a short-lived spinoff to “Barney Miller.”

Born in Brooklyn, Vigoda was the son of Russian Jewish immigrants. He started acting as a teenager, attending the Theater School of Dramatic Arts at Carnegie Hall. Vigoda worked steadily in theater and television for decades before gaining prominence with his roles in “The Godfather” and “Barney Miller.”

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His resemblance to Boris Karloff led to his casting in the 1986 New York revival of “Arsenic and Old Lace,” playing the role Karloff originated on the stage in the 1940s. (The murderous character in the black comedy is famously said by other characters to resemble Boris Karloff, a great joke back when the real Karloff was playing him.)

Reflecting on his delayed success, Vigoda once remarked: “When I was a young man, I was told success had to come in my youth. I found this to be a myth. My experiences have taught me that if you deeply believe in what you are doing, success can come at any age.”

“I’m the same Abe Vigoda,” he told an interviewer. “I have the same friends, but the difference now is that I can buy the things I never could afford before. I have never had a house before, so now I would like a house with a nice garden and a pool. Hollywood has been very kind to me.”

He was married twice, most recently to Beatrice Schy, who died in 1992. He had his daughter with his first wife, Sonja Gohlke, who has also died. Vigoda is survived by his daughter, grandchildren Jamie, Paul and Steven, and a great-grandson.

Reruns of “Barney Miller” and repeated screenings of the two “Godfather” epics kept Vigoda in the public eye, and unlike some celebrities, he enjoyed being recognized. In 1997 he was shopping in Bloomingdale’s in Manhattan when a salesman remarked: “You look like Abe Vigoda. But you can’t be Abe Vigoda because he’s dead.”